Frostbitten Sand
Misty Answers

"So you're still small..."

Gaara wondered what his father wanted to say to him, but the auburn haired man quickly found himself interrupted by his sandy haired daughter. "Don't." The auburn haired teen turned his head to look at his sister, wondering why Temari had become upset with their father. Instead Temari gave him the look with her indigo eyes indicating she'd switched to protective big sister mode, and Gaara found rather quickly that his sister could potentially be scarier then he ever had been. "Hey, could you stay with me in my room tonight Gaara?"

The young kazekage heard his father take a deep breath, and Gaara turned to look at the auburn haired man with his sea foam green eyes. The young teen couldn't help but notice that Rasa didn't seem pleased with Temari's situation, and the urge to talk to his father also remained. The deep feeling of anxiety settled down into the pit of his stomach, and Gaara's eyes darted to the ground while his hands clenched up. "But..."

"I need to talk to him alone."

"I want to talk to him to. Does Temari even remember her promise, to give him a chance?" The auburn haired teen muttered under his breath. "You said..."

"I'm going to keep my promise. To do that though, I need to talk to him a bit. Alright?"

Rather reluctantly Gaara stood up, glancing up at Rasa for a bit, and noticed the rather stern look plastered to the auburn haired man's face, and the young teen began to worry his lip, but then shook his head, complying to Temari's request. For some reason Gaara didn't go straight to the room, and instead hung around the hallway leading away to the rooms. His thin fingers clenched together into fists, the inability to hear the conversation aggravating him.

Eventually though his father came down the hall on his crutches, the auburn haired man closely followed by Baki. Rasa stopped at seeing his youngest. "Gaara?"

The fourteen year old looked up, his lips pushing together in frustration. Gaara's mouth opened to say something, only to stop upon seeing the pain in his father's dark brown eyes. The auburn haired teen felt his mouth snap shut, his jaw setting.

"Didn't your sister ask you to go to her room?"

Gaara leaned his head to the side so that his sea foam green eyes didn't look into those of his father. "Did Temari keep her promise?" The teen shook his head, his auburn locks getting in front of his eyes slightly. "Never mind. You don't know what I'm talking about."

"Actually, Temari told me about the promise she made you." Rasa's comment made Gaara look the man in the eye, only to see an uncomfortable amount of pain in the man's eyes, making the teen look away again. "She let me know she's not pleased with the fact I got out as early as I did, as it's going to make keeping her promise harder."

"Then she didn't keep her promise?" Gaara swallowed, looking his father in the eye again, wondering why things weren't going the way the auburn haired teen would have liked.

Rasa's eyes widened, and the auburn haired man's facial features twisted up in confusion, his voice straining slightly as he spoke to Gaara. "No, Temari kept her promise. She was simply making a legit point, that I got out of the hospital sooner then she expected, so she doesn't have as much time to get used to the idea that I'm back in your lives. She..." The man paused, as if he decided it was better to not say something. "Gaara, why didn't you do what your sister asked of you?"

Two sea foam green eyes widened, and Gaara felt a strange feeling settle over his body, the sensation of getting in trouble rushing over him. His voice strained slightly. "I..." The words "... wanted to see you," refused to come out of his mouth. "Never mind. It doesn't matter."

The fourteen year old's auburn locks shifted as Gaara made a slight bow, and headed off to Temari's room. His thin fingers stopped just short of the door handle, his mouth twisting down in confusion, realizing he hadn't figured out why his father was upset with him being asked to go to Temari's room. His hand's fell to his side, and he looked at the ground.

A tap on his shoulder brought his attention around, and Gaara looked into his sister's indigo colored eyes, noticing the smile snaking across her face despite the fact something was bothering her. "Remember Gaara, it may be true that something is upsetting me, but my smile isn't fake. Seeing you, and that you're alright makes things better."

"Temari..."

"Gaara, why haven't you gone in?"

Two sea foam eyes blinked a couple of times. "Father didn't seem to like me coming to your room. Why?" A sigh from Temari, and no answer made Gaara's conversation drift. "He seemed to have changed his mind, when I saw him."

"Gaara, you didn't come straight here like I asked?" Temari reached around her youngest brother to open the door, her other hand reaching up to ruffle his auburn locks. There was a time such an action would have made him lash out, but now the fourteen year old found it comforting.

"I wanted to see him, but I couldn't even tell him that." Gaara felt Temari's hot breath on his neck, and knew she'd let out a sigh, which meant something was frustrating her. "Sorry..."

A hand pressed against his back, pushing him into the room. "Don't be. I'm just worried about you. The forth, he's never been a kind person. The way he ruled, it was based on the philosophy that one should completely cut off their emotions. You on the other hand, your rule is based on the philosophy that cutting off ones emotions completely is detrimental, and that accepting the people's feelings exist is also important."

Words refused to come out of Gaara's mouth, his frustration growing. He let his thin body collapse to the bed, his eyes squeezing shut. "He's not going to be pleased with the way I've taken care of Suna?"

The silence over the room made Gaara realize Temari had tensed up, and then he felt her sit down on the other side of the bed, her thin fingers reaching out to brush through his auburn locks of hair again. "What the previous kage thinks doesn't matter."

"It does." The fourteen year old flinched when Temari accidentally tugged one of his locks the wrong way, and his eyes snapped open to see the sandy haired teen was upset. "I said something wrong?"

"Could you sit up so we can talk Gaara?"

The auburn haired teen turned over onto his back, pushing himself up into sitting position so that Gaara's back was supported by the headboard of Temari's bed. "So it doesn't matter?"

"I'm going to try to put this the best way I can. What the forth kazekage thinks does matter, because you want him to accept you as a person. It's something that you've been struggling with your entire life, getting him to accept you. However, the previous kage needs to accept you as you are, and if he can't the fault is on him. He's the one who needs to change in other words, not you."

The fourteen year old felt his thin hands reach up to clutch at his chest. "It still hurts."

"It's going to. You should know by now that there are going to be times that you're going to get hurt, little one." Temari suddenly leaned over so that her head rested on his shoulder. "I really am going to try to get along with that man, but if he says something, anything, that hurts you, please understand that I'm not going to let it go. I know that thought hurts you, but it also hurts me to see you hurt because someone refuses to try to understand you."

Gaara stared at the foot of the bed, and then his hand reached up slowly to touch his sister's soft, sandy locks, patting her head in a comforting manner. "I'll be fine."

"I'm worried that you won't be." Temari sat up, pulling her knees to her chest so she could rest her chin on top of her legs, wrapping her arms protectively around her lower limbs.

The auburn teen thought about what she said carefully, but couldn't figure out what Temari meant, and Gaara's mind drifted to another matter. "So, why didn't he want me staying in your room?"

A laugh left Temari's mouth. "Oh great, you had to go there? Let's just say that's the real reason I wanted you to leave the room. It's not exactly a conversation you would get, yet. Maybe someday."

A knock came at the door, and then it slid open slowly so the two saw Kankuro peeking in. The brown haired teen then let himself in, and came over to the opposite side of Gaara from Temari. "Hey, move over squirt." Gaara complied, and his brother sat down, and Kankuro allowed his big hand to reach up to ruffle his brother's auburn locks. "I really hate him, you know."

"Could we not have this conversation in front of Gaara?"

Kankuro didn't answer, but simply sat there, the implication being all three would stay the night in the same room. The brown haired teen glanced over at his younger brother. "You don't look so good Gaara. You've not been sleeping well again. You know that we don't like having to dose you with that stuff Lady Tsunade made up."

"Shukaku..."

"Shukaku doesn't come out when you sleep anymore." Temari let out a sigh. "Truth be told, I have to wonder if he really did, or if it's actually a combination of things. Plus, he promised you he would behave."

Kankuro snorted. "Can't trust a tailed beast anymore then we can trust the old man."

"Subject is closed. I'm going to go and change you two, so get some sleep if you can."

Gaara however couldn't sleep, his mind rushing constantly.